“The scars you can’t see are the hardest to heal.” – quote from the Together movie trailer
As you read this title, you probably think I am writing a story equivalent to a “Band of Brothers” tale. After all, I am a veteran writing about veterans’ issues and experiences. However, this is a story that is different. Yet it is still about an aspect of the Vietnam War. It is a story of three children of the same Vietnamese mother, two of whom are also daughters of an American GI. With different tortured paths these sisters (Juliet, Jen, and Hong) survive abuse, loss, and separation to finally reconnect with each other. It is also the story of Russell, the Vietnam vet with a tortured soul, who not only suffered himself but made others suffer as well.
As a father, Juliet describes Russell as a good father, at least when he is good. It is a sad but similar story told all too often. Yet, the story is truly Juliet’s to tell. The sudden loss of her mother in a tragic accident. Running away from abuse while abandoning her younger sister. Ferried between fifteen different foster homes until she finally finds her forever family. Then seeking out healing only to discover the awful truth about her mother’s death and her father’s lies. Yet finally, Juliet ends up finding her family in her sisters, and by reconnecting to the heritage she had never known.
Yes, this story is about the opening of wounds to find healing in living, even when the truth hurts. That is why the film’s quote “the scars you can’t see are the hardest to heal” is so fitting. As any war veteran can tell you, this is the truth that haunts each of us, each moment of each day. But it is also the truth that haunts those who suffered, the effects of the torture that was, and is, the veteran’s torment and tormenting actions.
Once again, it is a story that is too familiar. To veterans. To their loved ones. And, yes, to the families they created in a world far from their own shores. They are stories that many are trying to heal from so many years later. They are stories of people searching for their families, both here in the United States and in Vietnam.
Yet this is a story about how some degree of healing can occur for each one who is, or has, suffered. It is not easy. As the trailer points out, “A journey to heal from the past begins with a lie.” Oh, how can we all relate.
Finally, this is also the story of a filmmaker who is trying to complete her own ten-year journey to share this story, find its voice, and find a way to make it come to life. It is the story of the development, and hopeful birth, of a film that will tell this story through Juliet’s eyes.
This is also my plea to find veterans, and others with similar paths to this story, to help fund the film. As I write this article, the filmmaker, Yasmin Mistry, is about 81% toward her initial $25,000 Kickstarter goal to begin bringing this story to life. Her goal is to complete the film by early 2025 so that it can be released on the 50th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon. Of course, this is fitting because the story has its true start with an Air Force Photo Specialist assigned to Tan Son Nhut Air Base, a site pivotal to the Vietnam War and the Fall of Saigon. Again, it is a story worth telling.
But time is running out to contribute. The campaign will end on May 19th. As with all Kickstarter campaigns, it’s an all or nothing deal. So I challenge my veteran friends to help bring this campaign home to help get the story told.
Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/yasminmistry/together-a-feature-documentary